Brian settled down after an hour of throwing his body against the chains. I could not tell if he was trying to end his suffering altogether or was trying to break free; either one of those scenarios was not going to play out as he wished. My night was deeply uneventful with a delicious but quite dinner before we all went to our separate bedrooms. I idled for thirty minutes before finally getting into the bath, slightly disappointed that no one came to my door offering their body as a delicious distraction. I had surprisingly taken to Mercy's and Sunshine's display of affection quite easily now that sex was on the table. Suddenly, the idea of sharing my personal space and bed no longer seemed like the worst punishment. However, no matter how much having sex with either of them appealed to me, I would never be the one to initiate these encounters, at least not for a good long while.
After a long soak in the tub, I climbed into bed and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. The next thing I saw was Sunshine's unusually cheerful face waking me up. She had one of the widest grins on her face, one I had never seen before. It was full of mischief, and it did not take a genius to figure out why. Our breakfast was also quiet, my companion's heads were buried in their plate, no looking up until no food was left. They finished almost in synchrony and then got up and all but fled the table with Mercy mumbling something about preparing. If I didn't know any better, I would say that they were avoiding me, but that was a war for another time.
When I was done with my breakfast, I placed my utensils in the dishwasher before making my way down to the basement. Today was Sunshine's show, and I felt the stirrings of excitement to see just how far Sunshine was willing to go for me. I knew half of this exercise was her way of releasing her hurt after the life she had lived, but a part of me believed that it was out of her affection for me. It would not bode well for me in the future if Sunshine were willing to commit crimes for any stranger she met on the street. With Mercy around, I was discovering parts of Sunshine's personality I couldn't have even fathomed before. I had been unsure of whether or not they would get along, given the icy tension that was there between them initially. Seeing how much closer they had gotten within a short period thawed fragments of my heart.
The basement was brightly lit and decorated with red streamers, balloons, and confetti had been scattered all over the floor. On the projector, there was a series of images that kept playing one after the other, each scene depicting a woman undergoing some form of torture. I understood the images could have been some form of torture; the decoration, on the other hand, seemed over the top, but I chose peace and held my tongue. Today was Sunshine's day, and I was eager to see how far she would go. Mercy motioned me to a seat right at the edge of the bed where my brother lay, and that was when I noticed they had refastened his chains. Mercy could have had trouble controlling my brother, but I did not doubt Sunshine's physical prowess even for a second. My brother, who hadn't eaten or properly drunk anything for a few days now, did not stand a chance against her. Based on yesterday's show, I was willing to bet that he was not so secretly wishing he were dead.
"I want you to translate what I say to him. Word for word, no interpretation," she added, as I would have considered sparing my brother's feelings. I responded with a nod.
She set down her tools on the table, which had at some point been cleared of the show knives. She arranged tiny bottles of various colors on the table along with various syringes and needles. Next, she opened and laid out a roll bag which contained an assortment of needles of various lengths and thickness, which, had only ever seen at my mother's acupuncturist when I was younger. My brother must have recognized them because he started squirming in bed. I did not understand why, given that these needles were typically used to ease pain, and yet he had a stronger reaction to them than any other anything Sunshine had put out. She let out a smile, obviously picking up on my brother's discomfort, and I became more intrigued.
"Did you know the history of acupuncture is older than the history of Christianity? I translated Sunshine's signs, trying my best to keep up with her. Long before people imagined saviors and gods, the Chinese were inserting needles into people's bodies, trying to ease pain by promoting energy flow. As you can imagine, the needles needed to be thin to minimize the chances of the practitioner causing harm to his patients. In those days, you could die if you failed to properly treat the wrong person. It takes a bit of skill to cause harm using these needles, but I perfected it by the age of fifteen." I was too busy translating what Sunshine was saying to my brother, but I tabled that information for a later discussion.
I have always hated blood and gore, too overhyped to be basic, if you ask me. I prefer the soft methods of killing; there are a million different ways you can cause excruciating pain in the human body without letting out a drop of blood. Every man I have ever put down, their deaths were classified as unknown causes. It all boils down to perception, and what could be more harmless than a disabled woman? Not a single person ever considered me a criminal, and that in itself is a game, is it not?
Although I was the one audibly speaking, my brother's eyes never left Sunshine for a second. Sunshine stopped signing and picked up the longest needle and approached Brian, who realized the informative part of the interaction was now over. He tried getting away, straining his body against their thighs, but the additional ties Sunshine had added kept me trapped in the bed. He started screaming, hurling insults, and even spitting at her, but she remained undeterred, brushing off the entire interaction like it was a regular occurrence. She used one hand to lift him slightly off the bed before pushing the needle into what seemed like a random spot in his lower back. After three seconds, once the needle was all but gone inside him, he started screaming. It was a pained and anguished sound that seemed to have been dragged out of his very core.
While his sound echoed off the walls of the basement, I couldn't help but notice his lower body had stopped completely moving. He was no longer trying to get away; he just lay there screaming. Sunshine propped up the middle of his back with a pillow so that he was not resting on the needle which was only slightly poking out. She took a slightly shorter needle and pushed it in, in another seemingly random spot, but two seconds later, my brother was no longer screaming. I thought skin with any melanin couldn't turn red, but despite not moving his mouth, I could tell that he was screaming for his life. He must have been in so much excruciating pain because not even a minute later, his wide eyes drifted shut, the only indication that he had once again lost.
"So weak, and I haven't even gotten to the awful part where he permanently loses his sense while his body feels like it's on fire, and he can't even move it to ease his pain." Sunshine signed casually, the look on her face neutral like she was discussing the great weather we were having.
"We will just have to wait for him to wake up, maybe ease up on whatever it is you're doing, for now. We want him to be conscious so that the last thing he sees before losing his vision is me lording my defeat over him. That way, you can also have your fun for much longer."
She gave a reluctant nod before grumpily climbing out of the basement. Mercy, who had been watching us, highly entertained, had a wide smile leaving the basement. For a few seconds, I finally had my brother to myself. I wanted him to tell me how much it had hurt. I wanted him to beg me to put a stop to it, and I wanted to see his crushed face when he realized there was simply no getting over this. His breathing exercise could not help him now.